Root (NASDAQ:ROOT) Upgraded at Zacks Research

Root (NASDAQ:ROOT) was upgraded by stock analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Root from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Root in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Root in a report on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $75.00 target price on shares of Root and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Root currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $121.60.

Root Trading Down 6.7%

Shares of ROOT opened at $74.26 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.44 and a beta of 2.70. Root has a twelve month low of $68.08 and a twelve month high of $181.14. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $78.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $91.37.

Root (NASDAQ:ROOT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported ($0.35) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.43) by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $387.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $363.06 million. Root had a net margin of 3.80% and a return on equity of 23.36%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 26.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.35 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Root will post -0.08 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Root

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ROOT. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Root by 25.9% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 724,541 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,854,000 after purchasing an additional 149,064 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in Root by 54.8% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 357,176 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,708,000 after buying an additional 126,467 shares in the last quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc purchased a new position in Root in the 2nd quarter worth about $33,829,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Root by 18.6% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 234,715 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,040,000 after acquiring an additional 36,869 shares during the period. Finally, UBS Group AG lifted its stake in Root by 372.1% during the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 228,738 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,474,000 after acquiring an additional 180,289 shares during the period. 59.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Root

Root, trading on the Nasdaq under the ticker ROOT, is a Columbus, Ohio–based insurance company that leverages mobile technology and data analytics to offer personalized auto insurance policies. Founded in 2015 by Alex Timm and Dan Manges, Root set out to transform traditional underwriting by focusing on individual driving behavior rather than broad demographic factors.

The company’s core product is usage-based auto insurance, delivered through a smartphone app that monitors driving patterns such as speed, braking and phone usage behind the wheel.